Mind Matters Natural and Artificial Intelligence News and Analysis

CategoryEthics

Streetcar in Toronto, Ontario, Canada
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post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
March 11, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics
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The “Moral Machine” Is Bad News for AI Ethics

Despite the recent claims of its defenders, there is no way we can outsource moral decision-making to an automated intelligence
Brendan Dixon
March 11, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics

Here’s the dilemma: The Moral Machine (the Trolley Problem, updated) feels necessary because the rules by which we order our lives are useless with automated vehicles. Laws embody principles that we apply. Machines have no mind by which to apply the rules. Instead researchers must train them with millions of examples and hope the machine extracts the correct message… 

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Joyful happy boy hugging a robot
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
March 3, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics
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Can Robots Be Programmed To Care About Us?

Some researchers think it is only a matter of the right tweaks
Denyse O'Leary
March 3, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics

The quest is a curious blend of forlorn hope fueled by half-acknowledged hype and resolute denial of the most serious problems. Also by sometimes systematic confusion as to what, precisely, we are talking about.

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Babys playing together.
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
March 2, 2020
Categorized
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind
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Are Infants Born Kind? New Research Says Yes

The trouble is, the research is haunted by conflicting definitions of altruism
Denyse O'Leary
March 2, 2020
Ethics, Philosophy of Mind

If human infants show apparent intellectual qualities like compassion earlier than we might have expected but chimpanzees don’t, we must accept that humans are fundamentally different from chimpanzees. Conflicting definitions of altruism cloud the picture.

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Beautiful bored people bored isolated on pink background
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post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
February 25, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work
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Are Facial Expressions a Clear, Simple Basis for Hiring Decisions?

Marketing AI to employers to analyze facial expressions ignores the fact that correlation is NOT causation
Brendan Dixon
February 25, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work

Have you heard of the Law of the Instrument? It just means, to quote one formulation, “He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail.” All any given problem needs is a good pounding. This is a risk with AI, as with amateur carpentry. But with AI, it can get you into more serious trouble. Take hiring, for instance.

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Photo by Eugene Triguba
Type
post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
February 13, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics
Tagged
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AI has changed our relationship to our tools

If a self-driving car careens into a storefront, who’s to blame? A new Seattle U course explores ethics in AI
Brendan Dixon
February 13, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics

A free course at Seattle University addresses the “meaning of ethics in AI.” I’ve signed up for it. One concern that I hope will be addressed is: We must not abdicate to machines the very thing that only we can do: Treat other people fairly.

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A concept of a city being hit by a weapon of mass destruction suffering terrible consequences caused by terrorism or an act of war by a hostile country launching a devastating attack with atomic bomb
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post
Author
Bradley A. Alaniz
Date
February 5, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Military
Tagged
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What Can We Learn from History About Stopping AI Warfare?

International agreements can work, but only under certain circumstances
Bradley A. Alaniz and Jed Macosko
February 5, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Military

Historically, the key difference between the international weapons ban agreements that have been honored and the agreements that have not been honored is that the honored ones involved weapons of mass destruction (WMD). An effective ban on malicious AI requires the global community to first agree that such a form (or use) of AI would be a WMD.

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Middle-aged man calling his attorney for legal assistance
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post
Author
News
Date
January 24, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Technocracy, Work
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AI in the Courtroom: Will a Robot Sentence You?

Some experts think AI might be fairer than human judgment. Others are not so sure
News
January 24, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Technocracy, Work

One Superior Court judge has warned that many cases don’t come down to information alone, which is all AI can do. Law professor David DeWolf also expresses concern about increasing dependence upon law—a form of coercion—to regulate human behavior, a choice that is irrelevant to the growth of AI in the courtroom.

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Obstetric Ultrasonography Ultrasound Echography of a first month
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post
Author
Michael Egnor
Date
January 21, 2020
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Abortion Advocate Admits in a Medical Journal That Unborn Children Feel Pain

The scientific community has for decades misrepresented the straightforward science of conception and fetal development for ideological reasons
Michael Egnor
January 21, 2020

I have cared for hundreds of premature infants and it is very clear that these very young children experience pain intensely. An innocuous needlestick in the heel to draw small amount of blood would ordinarily not be particularly painful for an adult. But a tiny infant will scream at such discomfort.

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Photo by Clem Onojeghuo
Type
post
Author
Brendan Dixon
Date
January 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work
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Can We Outsource Hiring Decisions to AI and Go for Coffee Now?

I would have fired any of my hiring managers who demonstrated characteristic AI traits immediately. So why do we tolerate it coming from a machine?
Brendan Dixon
January 16, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Work

With historically low unemployment, employers are tempted to reduce costs and speed up the process using artificial intelligence (AI) systems. These systems might help but, for best results, let’s have a look at the problems they can’t solve and some that they might create.

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Soldiers are Using Drone for Scouting During Military Operation in the Desert.
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post
Author
News
Date
January 16, 2020
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Military
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Book at a Glance: Robert J. Marks’s Killer Robots

What if ambitious nations such as China and Iran develop lethal AI military technology but the United States does not?
News
January 16, 2020
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Military

Artificial intelligence expert Robert J. Marks tackles the contentious subject of military drones in his just-published book, The Case for Killer Robots: Why America’s Military Needs to Continue Development of Lethal AI. Many sources (30 countries, 110+ NGOs, 4500 AI experts, the UN Secretary General, the EU, and 26 Nobel Laureates) have called for these lethal AI weapons to be banned. Dr. Marks, a Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Baylor University, disagrees. What if ambitious nations such as China and Iran develop lethal AI military technology but the United States does not? Nations that wish to maintain independence (sovereignty), he argues, must remain competitive in military AI. (“Advanced technology not only wins wars but gives pause to…

Robot Predicting Future With Crystal Ball
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post
Author
News
Date
January 2, 2020
Categorized
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work
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Five AI Predictions to Watch in 2020

We'll check on these a year from now
News
January 2, 2020
Business and Finance, Ethics, Global Technology, Work

Some problems experts hope AI can help with may be outside AI's capacities. Some people may simply want to believe doctored images and deepfakes, for example.

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The mankind races - ethnic and multi ethnic - scientific model - concept
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post
Author
Heather Zeiger
Date
December 26, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy
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China: DNA Phenotyping Profiles Racial Minorities

In the United States, targeting minorities means political pushback; in China, no such discussion is allowed
Heather Zeiger
December 26, 2019
Ethics, Global Technology, Surveillance, Technocracy

While there is some merit to the idea that the population of a particular geographic region will have similar DNA patterns, this science comes with a host of assumptions that, when taken too far, crosses the line into pseudoscience.

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Businessman Robot Hands Law Connection HUD Network
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
December 26, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics
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2019 AI Hype Countdown #7: “Robot rights” grabs the mike

If we could make intelligent and sentient AIs, wouldn’t that mean we would have to stop programming them?
Jonathan Bartlett
December 26, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics

AI programs are just that—programs. Nothing in such a program could make it conscious. We may as well think that if we make sci-fi life-like enough, we should start worrying about Darth Vader really taking over the galaxy.

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thousands of umbrella in causeway bay hong kong in rainy day on august 18 2019
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
December 20, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Global Technology
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Can a Totalitarian State Advance AI?

China vs. Hong Kong provides a test case
Denyse O'Leary
December 20, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Ethics, Global Technology

George Orwell identified two characteristics of a totalitarian state that offer insight into its central intellectual weaknesses.

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The difference between right and wrong
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post
Author
Jay Richards
Date
December 6, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Machine Learning
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Will Self-Driving Cars Change Moral Decision-Making?

It’s time to separate science fact from science fiction about self-driving cars
Jay Richards
December 6, 2019
Ethics, Machine Learning

Irish playwright John Waters warns of a time when we might have to grant moral discretion to computer algorithms, just as Christians now grant to the all-knowing but often inscrutable decrees of God. Not likely.

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Tesla Cybertruck
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 23, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics
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Tesla’s Cybertruck Runs on … Hype?

When planning for the future, Tesla should maybe think reality, not Mad Max
Jonathan Bartlett
November 23, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics

The steel ball thrown at the unbreakable window broke the glass. Twice. Unfortunately, Musk had to spend the rest of the demo with a damaged car in the background.

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Man trying to whistle
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post
Author
News
Date
November 15, 2019
Categorized
Data Privacy, Ethics, Medicine and Health
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Google’s Secret Health Data Grab: The Whistleblower Talks

This is the fourth whistleblower in the last eighteen months
News
November 15, 2019
Data Privacy, Ethics, Medicine and Health

“The decision came to me slowly, creeping on me through my day-to-day work,” we are told, until it came down to “how could I say nothing?”

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Big brother electronic eye concept, technologies for the global surveillance, security of computer systems and networks
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post
Author
News
Date
November 11, 2019
Categorized
Ethics, Technocracy
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Can a Big Data Program Be Society’s Crystal Ball?

Can a program with enough data on all of us predict our future?
News
November 11, 2019
Ethics, Technocracy

Even fans admit that, if the program works, bad actors can use it just as easily as New Scientist’s virtuecrats.

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Autonomous cars on a road with visible connection
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post
Author
Jonathan Bartlett
Date
November 1, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics
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Self-Driving Cars: Florida Lawmakers Speed Through Caution Signs

Legislation seems fuzzy about who accepts responsibility when things go wrong with autonomous vehicles
Jonathan Bartlett
November 1, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Business and Finance, Ethics

I believe that most autonomous vehicle manufacturers will exercise an abundance of caution. But if laws are fuzzy, reckless manufacturers may escape blame and innocent riders, drivers, and pedestrians will pay for the resultant mayhem.

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Blc and white v diversity Ryoji Iwata at Unsplash 1513682121497-80211f36a7d3
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post
Author
Denyse O'Leary
Date
October 3, 2019
Categorized
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Programming
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Has AI Been Racist?

AI is, left to itself, inherently unthinking, which can result in insensitivity and bias
Denyse O'Leary
October 3, 2019
Artificial Intelligence, Arts & Culture, Ethics, Programming

Just any available data swatched into systems may embody prejudices that only become evident in use.

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